The street clothing of patients in hospitals and some other medical facilities is replaced with a gown-like garment which covers the patient's torso and which has an opening extending up the back that may be held closed by tie fasteners or the like. Conventional hospital gowns or patient gowns of this type lack the combination of characteristics which would best serve the needs of both the patient and the attending medical personnel.
An ideal patient gown would be one which can be easily put on and taken off either by the patient or by medical personnel. The gown should enable quick access to the patient's body by medical personnel but should not expose the patient's private parts under other circumstances such as when the patient is standing, moving about or sitting. The gown should be changable without disturbing IV equipment, ECG electrodes or other devices that may be attached to the patient's body. Fasteners with components made of metal or other material that may interfere with X-ray procedures, CAT scanning or NMI scans should not be present on the gown. It would be helpful if the gown enabled easy access to the breast region to facilitate nursing of infants or for medical procedures.
Conventional gown configurations tend to involve compromises between these several objectives. It is difficult for many patients to engage or disengage ties or other fasteners located at the back of the torso. Manipulation of such fasteners by medical personnel may require turning of a supine patient that would preferably be avoided. Prior gown designs that locate the fasteners at a more convenient location tend to complicate access to the patient's body, particularly in the back region. The standard gown design does not provide for access to the breasts without disrobing and many gowns have metal snaps or other fasteners that interfere with X-ray procedures and electronic scanning operations.
The tendency of the standard patient gown to gape and expose the posterior of a patient is notorious and a source of much embarrassment. Prior gown configurations which avoid this problem complicate access to the body.
There are also economic problems arising from the conventional patient gown designs. Maintaining an inventory of gowns of numerous different sizes adds significantly to hospital operating costs. Correction of misfittings consumes staff time. Metal snaps and similar fasteners tend to be damaged during the daily laundering process and may also abrade other materials during the laundering operation. Commonly used fasteners of the pressure sensitive type, in which an array of minute hooks on one tab engage minute loops on another tab, are also abrasive, wear quickly as a result of repeated laundering and accumulate unsightly lint which must be removed by hand. A more durable gown construction, fittable on patients of widely varying sizes, would significantly reduce the costs and complications of hospital operation.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.